Some 173 companies, including the footwear giants Nike and Adidas, have written to US President Donald Trump to urge him to reverse his decision to raise tariffs to 25% on Chinese goods worth $200bn (£157.3bn). They call the move "unfathomable", arguing it will hit working-class consumers hard. Mr Trump has told firms they should make more of their goods in the US. So who loses out as a result of the trade war?

Last year, Huawei released a list of its core suppliers and it included 33 US companies. As well as Google having to pull back on supplying its version of Android, major US technology suppliers including Xilinx, Qualcomm, Broadcom and Intel have all warned they will need to stop selling their technology to Huawei in order to comply with the ban.

NeoPhotonics, a San Jose-based firm which makes networking equipment, has a contract with Huawei that represents 44% of its entire revenue.

That was more than a letter of resignation provided today by Defense Secretary James Mattis. It was a bright red line in American history. [...] Two key points were cited by Mattis as intractable differences that existed between him and the president. First, he stated his strong belief in the alliances on which U.S. foreign policy has depended for three-quarters of a century and which have been serially attacked and eroded by Trump. Next he offered an explicit critique of the actions of Russia and China which he characterized as profoundly threatening on many levels.

“Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my positions,” Mattis wrote.

"special relationship" - The foreign policy establishment has been lamenting its death for half a century. But Atlanticism has long been a convenient myth // Atlanticism has never had a very stable meaning. For one thing, the US and Europe have not always considered each other natural political partners. For most of American history, there hasn’t even been a unified “Europe” to partner with. [...] Advertisement

In 1973, Henry Kissinger, himself a transatlantic refugee, launched a “Year of Europe” tour to try to save the relationship in the name of containment, preventing the further growth of the Soviet Union. Speaking as Nixon’s national security adviser, he asked whether the Atlantic community could thrive as the memory of the second world war began to fade. As the “rigid divisions of the past two decades diminish, new assertions of national identity and national rivalry emerge”. He argued that Americans should continue to support European unity. “If we permit the Atlantic partnership to atrophy … we shall miss our historic opportunity for even greater achievement.”

While Germany and other western countries have turned their backs on nuclear, the UK is strongly committed to new nuclear to meet its carbon goals and this means, despite security concerns, the government needs Chinese involvement. [...] But the company is open about the bigger prize – the UK as a springboard for exporting Chinese nuclear technology to other countries.

liquid times by Zygmunt, globalization - accelerated times, inequality, 1%, poverty trap, weak institutions being fleeced (latest and biggest - GFC, one rule for the one TBTF and other for the many, many have to suffer what they must (varoufakis)), same w broken promise of globalisation benefits everyone, same w failed military interventions ... STRUCTURAL REASONS - DEMOCRACY ELECTED REPRESENTATION does no more exist! its lobbied $$$ vested interest pork barrels corruption abuse get rich quick schemes. Longing for past greatness eg case Brexit. //&! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YU9djt_CQM - Authoritarianism: The political science that explains Trump &! https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-Skala_(Autorit%C3%A4re_Pers%C3%B6nlichkeit) &! Democratic Backsliding (salami tactic) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF-Tdsvk0tI - The decline of American democracy won't be televised

keeping in a permanent state of alarmingness/ "permanent war footing" / readiness preparedness: China South Sea (China) w Japan as Allie. // vs Russia. // Middle East. // Kovalik's new book is "The Plot to Scapegoat Russia: How the CIA and the Deep State Have Conspired to Vilify Russia." --- MANUFACTURING CONSENT - PERCEPTION MANAGEMENT HYPERNORMALISATION

There are two things at work here. The natural resource distortion to the real economy. And the Super Rich and Criminals and Asia/China who are desperate to divest and park their riches in democracies and rule of law and hard "assets"

The U.S. is producing less air pollution, but smog levels are still rising in the western U.S. because of pollutants released in Asian countries that then drift over the Pacific Ocean. Researchers say their findings show the importance of a global approach to preserving air quality.

"Scientists found Asian air pollution contributed as much as 65 percent of an increase in Western ozone in recent years," NPR's Rob Schmitz reports from Shanghai. "China and India, where many consumer products are manufactured, are the worst offenders."

The United States and China will fight a war within the next 10 years over islands in the South China Sea, and “there’s no doubt about that”. At the same time, the US will be in another “major” war in the Middle East.

Those are the views – nine months ago at least – of one of the most powerful men in Donald Trump’s administration, Steve Bannon, the former head of far-right news website Breitbart who is now chief strategist at the White House.

The clearest example is competition from foreign workers, which really has slammed the American working class. Economists David Autor, David Dorn, and Gordon Hanson did very careful empirical work and found that competition from China lowered wages and increased unemployment for American workers who were in competition with Chinese imports. Economists Michael Elsby, Bart Hobijn, and Aysegul Sahin found that competition from developing countries—not the decline of unions or the rise of automation—has been responsible for the bulk of the recent decline in labor’s share of income in the United States.

"With no global upturn in demand in sight for coal, the search for market equilibrium depends on cuts to supply capacity, mainly in China and the United States," the IEA said.

That sets up a difficult backdrop for Trump's first term. The Republican has promised to turn the tide for U.S. coal miners by rolling back regulations and ending President Barack Obama's moratorium on new coal mining on federal land.

The IEA sees global market forces standing in the way of a U.S. coal recovery.

USA is at war in Yemen. Is a humanitarian catastrophe. Yet another civil war in Middle East. As in Syria/Irak. And Afghanistan. Under radar screen of international community. United Nations. [bc Saudis own middle east hegemony aspirations! ... oil dollars!/petro dollars are their insurance!] [ France UK USA sell arms to SA ] Drone strikes (civilian casualties and mistaken targets) create anti-american sentiment. Saudi Arabia opposed Iran agreement deeply! Is this all "obscure." Or is it all absurd (as is life, see psychology on existentialism). Creating oh, dear (oh dearism (see Adam Curtis, throwing hands over head giving up to understand followed by covering ones eyes, ears, mouth). Bc it is easier in a selfish world where collectivism and activism has been buried under trillons of selfies and handbags for one season. [...] Another Proxy War, as in Syria (ie Iran backed Houthis, little bit overstated! but there).

Writing in the Financial Times, Liu Xiaoming said the delay to approving the plant had brought the two countries to a "crucial historical juncture".
He hinted that "mutual trust" could be in jeopardy if the UK Government decided not to approve the deal.

The UK already has a Chinese company, Huawei, running key parts of its telecommunications network.Arguably nuclear energy is likewise a business relationship subject to similar national security safeguards. But led by the United States, several other western countries have barred Huawei's involvement in key telecommunications networks on national security grounds. And no other major developed economy has invited Chinese involvement in a key nuclear energy project. //&! http://bbc.in/2anNbdh

deflationary trap/liquidity trap - orthodox monetary policy w austerity = stagnation. & west is exporting deflation. // if it is good for consumers ... break up banks. // hedging is BS ... you double the system you double the risk. [...] banks are now bigger! ... ban most derivatives, and reintroduce glass stegall // Black-Schoeles - there is no such think as risk free rate and no such thing as the past reflect the future. risk is not equally distributed. [...] VAR is flawed. //

the breakdown was deeply troubling. What it showed was an economy unhealthily reliant on consumer spending. Real household spending was up 0.7% on the quarter and added 0.5 percentage points to the growth rate. In other words, the other components of growth – investment, trade and government spending – contributed -0.1 points to growth during the first three months of the year. [...] drop in business investment, which was down both over the quarter and over the year. //&! bit.ly/1RjxDnh - Making things matters. This is what Britain forgot. Ha-Joon Chang. The neglect of manufacturing and over-development of the financial sector is the cause of the economy’s decline, not fear of leaving the EU

[ we are all in this together ] They say the problem comes from slower release of Ministry of Defence (MoD) funding for Type 26 warships.
That means work on them will start later than planned, and will be carried out more slowly, probably requiring fewer workers.
Hundreds of jobs have been lost on the Clyde in the past 18 months as BAE reduced shipbuilding capacity.

[...] But the threat is another sign of the escalating tensions between Saudi Arabia and the United States. [...] "Obama has been lobbying so intently against the bill that some lawmakers and families of Sept. 11 victims are infuriated. In their view, the Obama administration has consistently sided with the kingdom and has thwarted their efforts to learn what they believe to be the truth about the role some Saudi officials played in the terrorist plot." //&! http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-04-15/one-man-asks-why-was-tritium-found-911-ground-zero

the odds of another crisis are higher than a rally to fresh records. [...]
“The 2009-2015 rally originated from two main drivers: a massive stimulus, and credit expansion in China,” said Goette, who’s a partner at his firm in Zug, Switzerland and helps oversee 1 billion Swiss francs ($1 billion).

“European earnings have not followed suit so far. Skepticism regarding central-bank operations has started to emerge.”

Why do they not publish all the name that use the services and avoid taxes legally through tax loopholes?!?! All the sudden it is PRIVATE DATA! national accounts of a county economically damaged by tax evasion and avoidance is all the sudden PRIVATE DATA. A PRIVATE MATTER. Who's names did they publish? Russia, China, ... Iceland and a non-incriminating account of David Cameron. It stinks! Doesn't pass the sniff test. //&! Full Show: Soros And CIA Behind Panama Papers - 04/05/16 - The Alex Jones Channel - youtu.be/qNKAt3DxZXo [...] min 1:09:00 - John McAfee "smear enemies [...] we know who you are, we can black mail you" west keeps it's powder dry! //&! zerohedge.com/news/2016-03-28/top-german-journalist-admits-mainstream-media-completely-fake-we-all-lie-cia >> police infiltrated Greenpeace and other activist groups because they are deemed terrorists, duh. What stops them to go even further, nowadays?

Europe will not survive next crisis. [...] end of interview - China looked after the rest of the world and especially Germany after 2009 (credit bubble) as USA looked after Germany in the 50's - Wirtschaftswunder. Now China is trying its best not to implode and fall below 5% of growth per annum. And now USA is trying to contest Asia (excluding China) economically and militarily through TPP and military increase in that region. //&! Yanis Varoufakis - Guardian Live - youtu.be/md6_WfF9Ky0